Lani Guinier Talk to Focus on Civil Rights

Lani Guinier Talk to Focus on Civil Rights

RICE NEWS
April 8, 1999

Lani Guinier, the first black woman to become a tenured professor at Harvard
Law School, will present the Walter and Helen Hall Lecture, sponsored by the
Department of Sociology, at 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 13, in Hamman Hall.

Her lecture is based on her book "Lift Every Voice: Turning a Civil Rights
Setback into a New Vision of Social Justice."

Guinier was brought to public attention when President Clinton nominated her
to be the first black woman to head the Civil Rights Division of the Department
of Justice and then withdrew her name without a confirmation hearing.

Her view on democracy and voting rights were misinterpreted during her nomination,
and Guinier was denied the opportunity to speak for herself at the time. This
experience prompted her to write "Lift Every Voice," which uses the
nomination debacle as a window on the civil rights movement’s past, present
and future.

Cornel West, a fellow Harvard law professor, states, "Lani Guinier lays
bare her soul and our society in this probing and powerful book. Her indispensable
prophetic voice is unsettling and healing in these difficult days."

Guinier’s experience also led her to create Commonplace, a national nonprofit
center to connect citizens, communities and ideas, and Racetalks, a project
to create opportunities for multiracial problem solving and collaboration.

The civil rights lawyer is also the author of "The Tyranny of the Majority"
and co-author of "Becoming Gentlemen: Women, Law School and Institutional
Change.

The Rice community and the general public are welcome to attend the lecture.